Transforming the Trent Valley

1. Connecting Communities through Action (CCA)

CCA02 Wildchild

Encouraging children and families to explore nature through play.

Project Summary

Wildchild is about learning through play – bringing children and families closer to nature and discovering their wild places through exploration and fun. Informal education activities help children and their families to better understand the Trent Valley and their local environment, engendering a wish to visit and protect the heritage of the Trent Valley Washlands.

Activities include Wildlings and Nature Tots, which are aimed at pre-school children and encourage them to play and explore without their parent’s direct involvement in a controlled and safe outdoor setting. Wildplay and Forest Schools, aimed at older children, help them develop a sense of belonging in the landscape, promoting a life-long love for the natural world. Wildchild is guiding the decision-makers of the future. By engaging with families, we have the opportunity, not only to influence the next generation, but increase the use of natural open spaces for recreation, learning and valuing.

Alongside our child-based activities we are also offering taster and training days for parents to provide support and ideas for family days out throughout the project area.

Project Legacy

Families engaged will have a greater knowledge of accessible sites and strategies for engaging with nature. They will have learned about appropriate use of wildlife & heritage sites and their use will continue past the life of this funded project.

Some elements of this project will be able to continue past its initial funded term, Wildlings, Wildfamilies and Nature Tots all run in other parts of the county on a charged-for sustainable basis. Often we find that when something has been offered for free for many years, introducing a charge is almost a death blow. This project will be offering greatly subsidised fees for sessions, with attendees clear that they are being subsidised by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The school engagement will also be able to continue on a paid for basis, as we do elsewhere in the county.

The level of delivery will no doubt reduce as the need to cover staff time may divert the focus away from this area, unless we find a new source of funding to continue subsidising the role.

Project Lead

Kathryn Kavanagh
WildChild Officer Staffordshire Wildlife Trust

Providing land permission for a range of greenspaces across East Staffordshire for Wildchild events.

Summer Events 2023

Check out our summer events! Feel free to download a copy to share with friends, family, colleagues, local businesses, anyone who might be interested.

Transforming the Trent Valley Whats On Summer 2023

Download .pdf

Come along to our Wildchild events, we play and learn whatever the weather!

Explore a new site
Witness a new season
Learn a new craft
Discover a new creature

Our staff are welcoming and kitted out with a bundle of activity equipment for any location. We will assist you on your child’s quest for bugs, talk about your favourite wildlife and inspire some nature themed activities you can try at home.

Events Our Eventbrite Collection

Self led Treks

Click the link below to request a self led trek at three of our locations: Beans Covert, Tucklesholme and Croxall Lakes.

Self-led Family Trails

Nature Packs

Back in 2021 our Wildchild project created and distributed 250 nature packs to families in the Trent Valley landscape.

We couldn’t of done this alone, a big thank you to our community links.

Nature Pack distributors

LoveInspire Foundation | www.loveinspirefoundation.co.uk | loveinspirefoundation@gmail.com

Burton HOPE | www.burtonhope.co.uk | burtonhope.john@gmail.com

Winshill Neighbourhood Resource Centre | wnrc12@hotmail.co.uk

Burton Albion Community Trust | www.burtonalbioncommunitytrust.co.uk | bactadmin@burtonalbionct.org

TCC The Community Church Burton Food Help Service | www.thecommunitychurchburton.co.uk | info@tcc.org.uk

Trent & Dove Housing and The Short Street Community Cafe | www.trentanddove.org

East Staffordshire Family Support Service | www.eaststaffordshirefamilysupport.co.uk | support@harveygirls.co.uk

Wildchild Projects

Future Projects

Details of future projects to be delivered by Transforming the Trent Valley and its partners as part of the Community Engagement project will be posted here soon.